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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

New Book’s Ironic Claim: Catholic Church Paid to Send Obama to an Alinsky-Founded Group’s Community Organizing Training

A new book by conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly and American Spectator journalist George Neumayr exposes never-before-seen documents that purportedly show that the Catholic Church supported, and gave monies to, Barack Obama in the 1980s to attend a community organizing training with the Saul Alinsky-founded Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF). Additionally, in “No Higher Power,” the authors highlight other problematic funding and allegiances between the Church and ultra-liberal causes.

It’s no secret that the left has learned the ropes of using faith and religion for political gain. For years, liberals lamented conservatives’ close allegiance with Christian leaders. But now, in a change of course, they seem to be revving up the engagement and infiltration of faith communities in an effort to harness political power.

Progressive evangelicals, for instance, have a bizarre history of taking funding from far-left billionaire George Soros, an atheist
(we’ve covered liberal evangelical groups and their controversial stances and ties here, here and here). Many groups and churches, too, have joined in on leftist calls for social justice, among other Democratic-laden sentiment.

While gaining in its prevalence, this systematic exploitation of religion by liberals who seek to use the cohesive forces of belief to progress political agendas is nothing new. Segments of the Catholic Church, for example, have been frequently accused of being sympathetic to — and even funding — leftist activities. Most recently, the
Bishops, themselves, have accused nuns of liberal inclinations and separating from Church doctrine. But the ties and issues seem to go far beyond the nuns.

In “No Higher Power,” Schlafly and Neumayr focus upon Obama’s “war on religious freedom,” as the book puts it. Since the announcement of his controversial contraceptive mandate, many have claimed that the president and his administration have turned hostile towards people of faith (although there were other
benchmarks, including his attack on the ministerial exemption and an alleged apathy toward the faith community that some called out as earlier warning signs).

Considering Obama’s ongoing stalemate with Catholic leaders, though,
there are some past connections that are worth noting. TheBlaze secured
an exclusive excerpt from Chapter 6 of the book, where the aforementioned documents seem to show that the Catholic Church funded Obama’s IAF trip. On the surface, this may seem benign, but connecting the dots showcases what the authors contend is further
evidence of leftist infiltration into the Church.